My Beautiful Cervix

One full cycle of Cervie Love...

I am a 25 year old woman who has never given birth.

My intention with this project was to better understand my cycle and the changes in my cervix throughout the month. As a student midwife, I used this project to help me see how a cervix might look different throughout the cycle in the absence of vaginal infections and to understand speculum exams. You may notice on the right side of some photos, some jagged looking skin, which is the remnants of my hymenal ring.

Each photo was taken at approx 10:00 pm every day starting the first day of my menstrual cycle. I re-used a plastic speculum (order one here) and macro function of normal digital camera (and a very talented boyfriend with a headlamp). For the duration of this project, we used condoms as our birth control method so as not to introduce semenal fluid into the photoshoot. I also charted my basal body temperature to notice when the post-ovulation rise in progesterone triggered a rise in my body's temperature.

This cycle I photographed is of normal length for me, about 33 days. The diagram above is for a 28 day cycle. My cycle's follicular phase (variable number of days preovulation) lasts until about day 20 or 21. My fertile phase lasts from days 12 to 21 with ovulation on day 20. My luteal (postovulation) phase is 13 days long (12-16 days is the norm and is not variable).

Above is a graph of my basal body temperature for this cycle. As you can see, after ovulation on about day 20, my temperature began to rise due to the heat-inducing hormone progesterone produced by the corpus luteum. This temperature shift signifies that ovulation has already occurred. Check out more information about the Fertility Awareness Method of birth control.

May this site be educational for you and may you feel inspired to discover more about your body...

Day One

Blood - red , clotty and heavy flow

Cramps - mild

Breasts - de-swelling

Feeling - very sexual and tender

Day Two

Blood - Dark red, medium/light flow

Breasts - normal

Basal body temperature - 97.2 F (and remains between 97 F and 97.4 F until day 20)

Day Three

Blood - Brown and watery dark red, low flow

Day Four

Brown Spotting with some dark red flecks (note fresh blood at os)

Day Five

Light brown discharge; very low flow

Tender, heart-achey

Tired

Day Six

Very light brown discharge

Sticky cervical fluid when touched between fingers

Day Seven

Cervix in low closed position

Cervical fluid sticky

Day Eight

Cervix, low and closed/firm

Cervical fluid white and sticky

Day Nine

Cervix low and closed

Dry sensation

Day Ten

Cervix low and closed

Notice blood spot near os and brown clot near cervix (right). Possibly from vigorous intercourse earlier that day (not mittelschmerz as I am not ovulating yet)

Day Eleven

Cervical fluid is creamy

Day Twelve

Cervical fluid white and wet, milky

Feeling particularly sexual

Day Thirteen

Copious watery cervical fluid

Cervix softening and moving upwards

Day Fourteen

White/clear watery cervical fluid, dripping

Day Fifteen

Cerical fluid changed to more eggwhite texture

Cervix is soft, open and high

Day Sixteen

Cervical fluid alternately wet and eggwhite consistency

Cervix soft and high

Day Seventeen

Cervical fluid is very gelatainous (here seen covering os) and streaked with whitish yellow
Sensitive, sensual breasts (not painfully tender)

Slippery, stretchy fluid

Day eighteen

Eggwhite fluid

Day nineteen

More white-tinged eggwhite fluid

Super-stretchy fertile fluid

Day Twenty

Mild back pain and cramp on left side (mittelschmerz)

Ovulation suspected!

Close-up of cervical fluid, very stretchy and copious

Feeling very sexual

Day Twenty-One

Drier/chunkier (like drying rubber cement) cervical fluid

Nipples very tender and painful

Day Twenty-Two

Tender nipples

Cervical position is mid and slightly open

Basal Body temperature beginning to rise, today 97.6 F

Day Twenty-Three

Very tender nipples

Dry feeling

Basal Body temperature 97.5 F

Day Twenty-Four

Very tender nipples

Dry feeling

Cervix feels hard and high again

Day Twenty-Five

Headache and tired

Dry/tacky

Day Twenty-Six

Breasts swelling

Tacky cervical fluid

Basal Body temperature now noticabley higher than preovulation by about 1 degree Farenheit to 98.1 F (ranges from 98.1 F to 98.6 F for duration of cycle)